HomeAid Orange County

Family CareCenter

Overview

70

beds

120

families served annually

Purpose

To Provide Emergency Housing to Homeless Families

Families who are homeless are struggling to find safe places to stay each and every night. More than 60% of those living in shelters today are families with young children – including over 450 babies. After supporting 60 successful developments, HomeAid Orange County is proud to spearhead its very first project of its own, Family CareCenter, in the City of Orange.
Anticipated to open Spring 2017, the Family CareCenter will provide 56 beds, serving 10-15 families per day. Renovations and improvements include 4,000 square feet of housing, a Learning Technology Center, a client intake area for referral services, an outdoor recreation area, a kitchen and dining area, six full bathrooms with showers and laundry facilities, and more.

The lives of more than 5,000 people will be positively impacted through HomeAid Orange County's Family CareCenter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who will operate the Family CareCenter?

HomeAid will partner with Mercy House; a qualified nonprofit that has the expertise in serving families who are experiencing homelessness.

What programs or services will the Family CareCenter offer/provide that makes it unique?

The Family CareCenter will increase the year-round availability of low threshold emergency shelters for families focusing on rapidly rehousing families within 30 to 45 days through case management.

What is the screening process for accepting families into the Family CareCenter?

The Family CareCenter is open to families with at least one parent with one or more children under the age of 18. Families seeking shelter at the Family CareCenter will have a pre-admission screening that will deny access to any known sex offenders and felons with open warrants. The Family CareCenter has zero tolerance and will not allow drugs, alcohol, weapons or pornography on site.

Will you need to turn people away? Will there be a waiting list?

The Family CareCenter is not a walk-up emergency facility and will be able to serve up to 15 families per day with a maximum capacity of 56 individuals. The Family CareCenter will use the coordinated entry system to know the available beds and will prioritize placements at the Family CareCenter based on the management plan and the individual’s needs.

Will Veteran families get preferential treatment or acceptance into the program?

The Family CareCenter will be a low-threshold emergency shelter that will serve families up to 45 days. Veteran families experiencing homelessness may be accepted into the program, yet not given preferential treatment.

How will the Family CareCenter pay for its programs and operations?

In partnership with Mercy House, both organizations will seek donations to ensure the sustainability of the program and building. Funding for operations of the program will primarily be the responsibility of the Family CareCenter operator. Further, HomeAid is facilitating a $1.3 million grant from the Children and Families Commission of Orange County payable over 5 years for operational support. HomeAid will also seek to raise additional support to supplement the operations of the program and building maintenance.

How will you keep families' belongings safe within the Family CareCenter?

The Family CareCenter is being designed to have secure storage to ensure personal belongings are kept safe.

Which Schools (Elementary, Middle and High) will be impacted?

Families will be housed at the Family CareCenter on a temporary basis, 30 to 45 days. Most children will already be registered in a respective school and will not be impacting local schools in the City of Orange. Families in transition who may not have their children enrolled in a local school will possibly be directed to Skyview School in Orange until a family is placed in permanent housing. The following schools are in the Orange Unified School District near the Family CareCenter: California Elementary, Yorba Jr. High and Orange High School.

How will you measure the long-term impact on homelessness and community benefit?

HomeAid will measure the long-term impact of the Family CareCenter toward ending homelessness and the community benefit with several key indicators, including: refining the reported numbers and determine the impact from the annual count of homeless children through the Orange County Department of Education, and reviewing the impact by the number of families served at the Family CareCenter on an annual basis. Both of these metrics will reflect the direct impact and success for ending family homelessness in Orange County.

What will happen if you don’t raise the $5 million you need?

The Family CareCenter Capital Campaign’s $5M goal is broken down into several different key areas: $1,600,000 for pre-development and renovation so the Family CareCenter can open in Spring 2017; $1,700,000 for the acquisition for the building; $1,400,000 for maintenance endowment reserves and campaign/marketing costs; and $300,000 for three years of HAOC’S operational support of the Family CareCenter. Failure to raise these funds will jeopardize the opening of the Family CareCenter and delay our ability to help homeless families.

How will the Family CareCenter be different than the Kraemer Multi Service Center in Anaheim?

The Family CareCenter will serve families with children who are experiencing homelessness. The proposed 200-bed County of Orange Multi Service Center on Kraemer Place in Anaheim will primarily serve individuals.

Will this be a model for building more Family CareCenters in Orange County or beyond?

HomeAid’s Family CareCenter will be the first new facility in Orange County developed under the provisions of California’s landmark Senate Bill 2 (2008), which requires cities to modify their General Plan Housing Element to encourage “housing with minimal support services” for people in need. HomeAid sees this project as a model for future sites not only in Orange County, but across the state and country. By utilizing best practices through this development, other HomeAid Chapters and nonprofit housing providers could develop similar facilities to house those families experiencing homelessness.

An Inside View

Family CareCenter features an inviting and secure entrance. It it regularly maintained and all activities occur within the CareCenter.

Family CareCenter features a reception area, snack bar, and lockers that serve as amenities to homeless families waiting to be checked-in. The residents are serviced full-time by staff from Mercy House.

The Family CareCenter features a comfortable waiting areas.

Family CareCenter features educational and recreational resources for young students.

It also includes high-efficiency washing machines and energy efficient dryers for families to do their laundry.

Cubicle units can be arranged as necessary to keep families together with a sense of privacy.

Family CareCenter features a technology learning center with computers provided by Google.

There are several areas where families can rest and congregate.

Family CareCenter features a premier kitchen with food prepared by staff and guest chefs. This allows families to have a hot meal and the energy to focus on their next steps.

Development Team

Success Stories

As the rain came down and the temperatures dropped over this last weekend, my thoughts went to the people that I met on Thanksgiving Day at a wonderful community meal at Doheny State Beach. How did they fair last night? Did they get wet? Were they cold? What were they going to wake up to this morning? You see these individuals were homeless and did not have a shelter over their head or if they did, they may have found it in a doorway or under some sort of an awning. The challenging fact... Read more

In less than 500 words, I have been challenged to talk about one of my favorite things: Housing!
I have three things to say about housing. First off, when it comes to ending homelessness, and yes I really do believe that we can and will end homelessness in Orange County, there is nothing more important than housing. Nothing. Obviously, someone who moves into permanent housing has ended their homelessness, and this is the goal. But, I am saying something more here, something a little more su... Read more

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